I grew up in Mississippi, just across the border from Louisiana.
All my life we referred to people from Louisiana as “coonasses”. They called themselves that. I always considered it something like a cajun redneck and not offensive at all.
A few years ago I used the term during a business trip with a group in New Orleans. A Scottish woman was outraged that I would use it. She seemed to think it was racist.
What is it’s origin? Is it racist?
I don’t know of the origins, but the word “coon” itself IS a racial slur, so I can definitely see why she thought you were being racist.
UrbanDictionary.com has a rather nice entry on it.
"Wasn’t that a ‘coonass dumb’ thing to say in a business setting?
I was kidding around with a woman I know from Louisiana, and I said, “So, you’re a coonass girl?” She told me the coonasses are from northern Louisiana, and she’s from Creole country.
Word of the day on coonass
Interesting. I always thought coonass was a reference to a Davy Crockett type raccoon-skin hat. On several occasions I heard my Louisiana grandmother talk about the Fess Parker inspired craze, when all the local boys “was wearing coonasses on they heads.”
So, the Louisiana equivalent of “asshat”?
I can see how some people might not appreciate that…
I am from Northern Louisiana. We ofetn used it to refer to people that moved up from cajun country. It generally refered to a person from cajun country that had a certain accent. It was not derogatory but also said in a kidding manner. I never saw anyone get offended and they often used it to describe themselves.
As a side note, the true cajun country is a triangle. It has its upper point at Alexandria, it’s western point just past Lafayette, and its eastern point at Baton Rouge. New Orleans is not within the cajun area although most people think that it is. New Orleans plays up the cajun angle for tourists but its true heritage is Creole. Creole also has a large French influence (as well as Spanish and African) but it largely unrelated.
New Orleans native checking in …
On top of that, you used to be able to get T-shirts that reflected pride in status as a “coonass”. Haven’t seen those in years, though.
Nitpick: I’d say the triangle extends a bit further east than Baton Rouge. Terrebone and Lafourche Parishes, SSW of New Orleans, have plenty of Cajuns (remember former Saints QB Bobby Hebert, from Cut Off?).
I lived in Lafayette from 1977 - 1980, before the Cajun craze, and back then New Orleans had basically zero Cajun food. Justin Wilson said that Cajuns consider people from North Louisiana Damn Yankees. 
I’d also quibble about your triangle - Boudin King, one of the best places to get Boudin, is west of Lafayette on I10, about halfway to Lake Charles, which is definitely outside of Cajun country.
My take is that the term is an insult, and might be used in jest by Cajuns but no one else. Example of Cajun pride Tshirt I saw frequently <Cajuns> are better lovers because they eat any damned thing.
I guess, as with most names, all depends on how you use it. Around here (Lafayette and St. Martin Parishes) I’ve heard it used among Cajuns with no problem, although you won’t see it on TV or in the paper. However, if I ever called one a coonass with obvious derision, I’m pretty sure I’d be handed my own ass.
BTW, I have a certificate hanging on my office wall that was given to me by my co-workers that certifies me as an honorary coonass. Now I just have to start working on the accent.
Then again, there are people of a certian skin tone who refer to themselves as “nigga”.
As a New Orleans native, I know well that most Cajuns live in South-Central to Southwestern Louisiana. My Grandfather was from Rayne, Louisiana (about 40 miles west of Lafayette and 50 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico) and would be very well described as a Coonass although his mother was Cajun-French and his father was German. My Dad was also born there, but moved to New Orleans and lost his Cajun accent when he was a child.
I met a girl from Shreveport (NW Louisiana) a few years ago who had no idea what a Cajun accent sounded like.
I deal with Cajuns on a pretty regular basis but I’ve never heard of any of them offended by the term Coonass, and I’ve heard a lot of people refer to themselves as Coonass just because they live in Louisiana, even though they might not appear to be Cajun.
Jason
Thanks for mentioning that. When you see a movie set in New Orleans, you hear a lot of Cajun accents. In real life, it’s not all that common. In New Orleans and the suburbs, we have our own unique way of speaking (often referred to as “Yat”) and it doesn’t remotely resemble Cajun.
Jason
Which, for some reason, skips over Metairie altogether and starts up again in Kenner.
It dapends on how close ya are to da Seventeent Street Canal Dawlin!
I’ve never met a Cajun who took offense to being called a coonass. I was out partying with these 3 Cajun boys from Lake Charles, LA and they all proudly referred to themselves as coonasses. We went out dancing, drank moonshine, and sucked crawdads till our tongues bled. Good times, good times.
That sums it up quite well.
I’m from the boudin capital of the world . . . Houma, Louisiana. In my family, the use of word “coonass” (by anyone other than a fellow Cajun) was considered an insult comparable to spitting on someone.
On the scale of insults, it sounds as though coonass is closer to (Detroit usage) Polack than to nigger.
Around Detroit:
Polack is an insult when used by someone who is both not of Polish ancestry and a stranger or mere acquaintance.
Polack is a frequent (but not commom) reference to or among themselves by members of the Polish-American community, carrying no insult, but not used “politely.”
Polack can be used by people who are not of Polish extraction among people who do have Polish ancestry, provided they are already friends.
And with a particular tone of voice, it can always be an insult, regardless who uses it.